Systematic conversion of the most important watershed on the lower Neuse River is currently taking place in Pamlico County. This watershed, a 4,658 acre tract locally known as the Atlas Tract, is being converted from a wetland forest to agriculture.

Spring Creek Farms LLC purchased this property from Copper Station via a holding company called Northeast Dakota Holdings LLC for $7.1 million or just under $1,525/acre. By converting this property to agricultural land, costing around $1,000/acre for the conversion, and with farm land currently selling in Pamlico County for as much as $5,400/acre, a future sale of $25 million could net as much as $13 million in profit.

Spring Creek Farms LLC has hired a large land-management group to provide documentation to the Corps of Engineers saying that most or all or this 4,658 acres is now uplands and is no longer wetlands. Therefore, conversion of these former wetlands into agriculture lands can be done without violating Section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act.

I personally looked at this entire tract two years ago for a client that was looking for hunting property when Copper Station was marketing this tract for hunting and/or forestry purposes. I firmly believe, based on 26 years of buying/selling raw land, that at least 75 percent or more of this property is 404 wetlands.

By permanently converting a wetland forest into farm land, you completely destroy the viability of this watershed. No longer will the heavy rains during the winter months be absorbed by these wetlands with a slow release of moisture during the drier spring/summer months. Harmful run-off will flow into the headwaters of Trent Creek, Pierce Creek, Orchard Creek and Brown and Lower Broad Creek. If this wetland forest is converted to farm land, then heavy rains will immediately flood these headwaters with agricultural run-off, thus creating algae blooms and eutrophication of these valuable primary nurseries.

One inch of rainfall on one acre of land will produce 27,154 gallons of run-off if it is ditched and well-drained. On 4,658 acres, one inch of rainfall equals 126,483,332 gallons of run-off. Pamlico County averages close to 60 inches of rain/year, so the annual run-off from a ditched & well-drained Atlas Tract will produce 7,588,999,920 gallons of run-off, containing sediment, herbicides, pesticides and fertilizer. That is over 7.5 billion gallons of polluted water. Our headwaters and primary nursery areas collecting this contaminated water will surely become cesspools void of shrimp, crabs, fish and oysters.

In addition, this wetland forest conversion to farm land is not the same as clear-cutting. Actually, clear-cutting of small tracts, if done periodically, is actually beneficial to wildlife by creating an edge-effect of new forage without dramatically destroying entire ecosystems. Wetland forest conversion to farm land permanently and forever destroys vital habitat not only for the hundreds of deer, bear and wild turkey that inhabit the Atlas Tract, but for the thousands of birds and smaller mammals that will be permanently displaced. The Atlas Tract, as well as other large wetland forest tracts in eastern North Carolina, serve as a vital winter habitat for migratory songbirds for several months during the winter. Without large tracts such as the Atlas Tract, songbird populations will be negatively affected.

If Spring Creek Farms LLC wants to clear-cut the entire Atlas Tract, there is nothing that anybody can do to stop them. However, the only way that Spring Creek Farms LLC can convert their clear-cuts into farm land is through systematic ditching. The Clean Water Act specifically says that you cannot convert 404 wetlands into uplands without a permit. Spring Creek Farms LLC must obtain permits from the Corps of Engineers in order to dig ditches. If this land is presumed to be uplands, then why does Spring Creek Farms LLC need the necessary permits to dig ditches or even clean-out any existing ditches on this tract? If this land cannot be ditched for farming, then the highest and best use for the property would be hunting/forestry and therefore it would not be completely cleared of trees.

Rachel Carson, who published a book in 1962 called Silent Spring, is credited with launching the contemporary American environmental movement. Her book, Silent Spring, described how pesticides such as DDT created egg-shell thinning in birds such as pelicans and bald eagles, which were both endangered at the time. Awareness of the harmful effects of DDT created a ban of the pesticide and subsequently the recovery of both the pelican and the bald eagle.

If Spring Creek Farms LLC receive permits for ditching the Atlas Tract and converts this wetland forest into farm land, then they should at least change their name to Silent Spring Creek Farms LLC, because the silence of displaced wildlife will be deafening.

Once the damage is done and the algae blooms occur, fish kills will certainly happen. Once fisheries samples occur and very few shrimp, fish, crabs and oysters are found, the taxpayer will correct the problem. The Federal Government will step-in and pay the owner of the Atlas Tract money, through the CREPS program, to convert this farm land back into a forest wetland.

The key to stopping Spring Creek Farms LLC from destroying the Atlas Tract watershed is to contact the Corps of Engineers, Emily Greer, Emily.C.Greer@usace.army.mil. or Fax: 975-1399. Let Greer know that you do not want the Atlas Tract watershed converted to farm land.

You can also contact Anthony Scarbraugh with NCDENR, Division of Water Resources, Anthony.Scarborough@ncdenr.gov. Phone: 948-3924. Again, please tell Scarbraugh that you do not want the Atlas Tract watershed converted to farm land.

Organizations that are currently investigating this problem can also be contacted, as follows: